Equality

The Equality and Inclusion team at NHFT looks after all areas of equality, diversity and inclusion, and has been working to ensure the Trust adopts the inclusion agenda more actively. The team supports the Trust to meet its statutory requirements under Equality Act 2010, for staff and service users.

We work to ensure that all staff, students, service users and visitors are treated fairly and with dignity and respect. We also work closely with our third sector partners particularly from our underrepresented communities, to ensure all groups have a voice and are listened to.

As a Trust we have a duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation, to advance equality of opportunity and to foster good relations. All public bodies including NHFT must treat people from different groups fairly and equally. This could be in our services, our jobs and through the money we spend.

Equality Act

The Equality Act 2010 applies to all organisations that provide a service to the public.

The Act protects people from discrimination on the basis of Protected Characteristics. The relevant characteristics for services and public functions are:

Age

Disability

Gender reassignment

Pregnancy and maternity

Race (this includes ethnic or natural origin, colour and nationality)

Religion or belief

Sex (male or female)

Sexual orientation

Marriage/civil partnership

It is unlawful to discriminate against, harass or victimise a person when providing a service or when exercising a public function. For more information about the Equality Act, click here.

Equality Delivery System 2 (EDS2)

A key principle of the NHS is that ‘everyone counts’ the Equality Delivery System 2 (EDS2) is a tool designed by NHS England to help NHS organisations to review and improve their performance for people with characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. EDS2 helps us to create services that are personal, fair and diverse and that meet the needs of everyone, regardless of their protected characteristic or disadvantage, affording better outcomes for patients and communities, and better working environments, which are personal, fair and diverse, for staff.

NHFT can better understand the needs of the local population by engaging effectively with patient’s carers and staff members. This communication is crucial to the organisation so that we can focus on improving the services we provide for all people, taking into account their protected characteristics. NHFT are, in addition aware of their responsibilities under EDS2 which highlight that;

they should increase the diversity and quality of the working lives of the paid and non?paid workforce.

A review of our evidence portfolio for 2017 was set to be externally graded through the planned community engagement events arranged for Spring 2018. We hoped that the community engagement programme would have offered an inclusive engagement opportunity with the public and stake holders. Unfortunately the planned community engagement events did not provide us with the opportunity to grade the in-patient mental health services as we had originally hoped. An alternative arrangement was scheduled to involve our own service users and carers in the grading process where the first meeting in June allowed the opportunity for the service users and carers to understand more about EDS2 and ask questions of the service manager. The final grading meeting has been scheduled for the 9th July and following this meeting the EDS2 document will be published on the website after approval at the Equality and Inclusion Assurance Board on the 31st July.

A safer ramadan

You may be aware that Ramadan started on Tuesday 15 May and continues until end the evening of Thursday 14 June. This time involves periods of fasting for Muslims, this means abstaining from food, drink (including water) and smoking. While fasting is an important part of Ramadan it is also a time of self-reflection and self-evaluation for Muslims. Accommodating religious belief and practices during Ramadan is about being responsive to individual needs.

In the United Kingdom, it is estimated that there are over 325,000 Muslim people with type 2 diabetes. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is an integral part of the Muslim religion. Thanks to the study undertaken by our Innovation and Research and Diabetes Multidisciplinary teams, the Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (DESMOND) programme has been adapted for implementation as an innovative educational intervention known as “A Safer Ramadan”. This is designed to meet the specific needs of Muslim services users who observe Ramadan.

The full study summary for ‘A Safer Ramadan’ can be found at the bottom of this article.

For more information on how to fast with diabetes – you can find a factsheet below. Information on how to respond in the event of a hypoglycaemic attack can also be found below.

Equality Analysis

Under the Equality Act 2010, the trust is legally obliged to undertake an equality analysis before making any decision. We are expected to ensure that 'due regard' is given to the needs of the service users based on their protected characteristics. However, our approach to equality analysis has to be relevant and proportionate, which means focusing on areas that are of significance for specific protected groups.

Equality analysis involves using equality information, and the results of engagement with protected groups and others, to understand the actual effect or the potential effect of your functions, policies or budget decisions. It helps the Trust to identify practical steps to tackle any negative effects or discrimination, to advance equality and to foster good relations.

BME staff development network

Overview
The primary aim of the BME staff development network is to provide an autonomous and effective voice for black and minority ethnic (BME) patients, staff, service users, carers and community. We aim to ensure that NHFT fulfils its statutory duties regarding race and racial equality by working in partnership with the Trust’s Equality and Inclusion Team, to champion race equality and to provide a critical challenge to ensure NHFT processes do not discriminate based on race. While recognising all the protected categories set out in the Equality Act 2010, race equality is the overarching organising principle of network.

Who we are
The BME staff development network is made up of black and minority ethnic staff from across the Trust. Non-BME colleagues with an interest in promoting awareness of racial equality and cultural awareness issues can become ‘champions’ of the network.
The BME staff development network has an executive committee, which meets on a regular basis to discuss network business and also arrange meetings that are accessible to all members of the network.

What we do
The BME Network has been established to help NHFT meet its statutory duty to promote racial equality and eliminate discrimination. The network is open to all disciplines, and staff with an interest in promoting racial and cultural equality within the workplace.

Staff disability and allies network

Overview
The staff disability and allies network provides a safe environment to share and discuss work related experiences, in order to gain support and advice around disabilities.

The network hopes to raise awareness, signpost training, offer community engagement, give support to employees (staff and managers) and advise on Trust policy improvements. This will create a culture of disability confidence for all employees.
The group will make every effort to ensure confidentiality for those who attend.

Who we are
The aim of the Staff Disability network is to help NHFT become more disability friendly. The network champions are people with disabilities and their allies, a disability could be:

Physical

Learning

Invisible

Mental health.

An ally is a colleague who does not have a disability, and does have an interest in promoting awareness of disability issues.

What we do
As a network we aim to:

Raise awareness of disabilities amongst staff at all levels

Create a culture of disability confidence for all employees

Engage with local organisations to organise regular work-focused training and meetings, as well as supporting social engagement activities with local groups.

LGBT staff and allies network

Overview
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) staff and allies network has been established to help NHFT become more LGBT friendly for both staff and service users.

Who we are
The LGBT Network champions are made up of staff who identify as LGBT or their allies. These are staff across different levels within the organisation.

What is an ally?

An ally is someone who doesn’t identify as being LGBT, and has an interest in supporting LGBT issues and promoting equalities for this group.

What we do
As a network we aim to:

Raise awareness of LGBT health inequalities, and give support to employees and service leads

Engage with local organisations to arrange work-focused training and meetings, as well as supporting social engagement activities with local groups

Create a culture of confidence in LGBT issues for all employees, including creating a culture where staff and service users are happy to disclose their sexual orientation without worry.

Gender pay gap reporting

Employers in the UK with more than 250 staff are now required by law to publish their gender pay gap data following The Equality Act 2010 Gender Pay Gap information Regulations which came into force in 2017. A gender pay gap is the difference between the average hourly earnings of males and females with the figure expressed as a proportion of male earnings, however it is important to note that it is separate from equal (or unequal) pay.

The data for NHFT’s gender pay gap is highlighted below:

Gender pay gap:

Women’s mean hourly rate is 20%lower than men’s. In other words when comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 80p for every £1 that men earn.

Women’s median hourly rate is 4%lower than men’s. In other words when comparing median hourly rates, women earn 96p for every £1 that men earn.

Pay quartiles:

Pay quartiles are calculated by splitting all employees in an organisation into four even groups according to their level of pay. Looking at the proportion of women in each quartile gives an indication of women's representation at different levels of the organisation.

*The bonus pay gap includes bonuses in the form of money, vouchers, securities, securities options, or interests in securities which relate to profit sharing, productivity, performance, incentive or commission.

Moving ahead - reaching out to communities

We are working in partnership with Northamptonshire Carers, Total Voice and Mind organisations in Northamptonshire to bring together health care services which support you or the ones your care for out in the community. These engagement events are open for anyone to come along to find out more about services available, how to access them and ask any questions you may have. There will be a variety of representatives attending from all areas to talk to you about access to services and whether self-referral is available as well explain what services or treatment may include.

We will also be joined by NHFT wellbeing navigators who will be offering free health checks including; blood pressure checks, BMI and weight measurements as well as much more. There is no need to book, simply just turn up at the venue listed below at a time that suits you and join these organisations for a chat and a coffee. This is a great opportunity to learn more about community health services in Northamptonshire and give you the information you need to support yourself, or the ones you care for.